Euronews

Polls suggest that Germany’s general election will deliver Angela Merkel a third term as Chancellor. But it is not clear who her CDU party may have to team up with to form a government.

Upsetting the political status quo is the newcomer Alternative for Germany (AfD), a party of eurosceptics.

The flurry of opinion polls published in the days leading up to the election suggested that AfD could reach the 5 percent threshold necessary to enter parliament.

Analysts say that winning even a few seats would give the party a significant political platform.

Daniela Schwarzer of the German Institute for International Politics and Security explained: “All bail-outs need to go through parliament, likewise when the European Stability Mechanism is used to recapitalise banks. So, the AfD, with its eurosceptic ideas, could have a huge influence on the European debate in Germany.”

Euronews correspondent Olaf Bruns reported from Berlin: “Newcomers are rare in German politics, so many people just can’t imagine that an anti-euro party could enter parliament. But this time there could be a big surprise on election night.”